Orientation-based data transfer

• US 10,289,337 B1
• Filed: 11/18/2015
• Issued: 05/14/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sandisk Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Manghi, Ameen, Chang, Eric W., Kala, Maria Nzembi, Agarwal, Saurabh, Razzaque, Muhammad Zeeshan
• Primary Examiner(s): Birkhimer, Christopher D
• Application Number:
  US14/945,240
• Time in Patent Office: 1,273 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1402 Saving, restoring, recovering or retrying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1446 Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0683 Plurality of storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0688 Non-volatile semiconductor memory arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for initiating data transfer operations between data storage devices based at least in part on relative physical orientation or position of the data storage devices. Data storage devices are disclosed that include a physical enclosure, a non-volatile memory disposed within the physical enclosure, one or more sensors, and a controller configured to determine a physical orientation of the data storage device relative to another data storage device using the one or more sensors and initiate a data storage operation involving the data storage device and the other data storage device based on the physical orientation.

Claims

1. An external data storage drive comprising:

a first physical enclosure;

a host interface for communicatively coupling to a host device separate from the external data storage drive;

a first non-volatile memory disposed within the first physical enclosure;

one or more sensors; and

a controller configured to;

determine a physical orientation of the external data storage drive relative to another external data storage drive that is separate from the host device using the one or more sensors, the other external data storage drive comprising a second non-volatile memory disposed within a second physical enclosure of the other external data storage drive; and

in response to the determined physical orientation;

based on the determined physical orientation, select a type of data storage operation between a copy operation and an extended storage operation; and

initiate the selected type of data storage operation involving the external data storage drive and the other external data storage drive.

2. The external data storage drive of claim 1, wherein the determined physical orientation of the external data storage drive relative to the other external data storage drive is one of a side-by-side orientation and a stacked orientation.

3. The external data storage drive of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises a Reed sensor configured to detect a presence of a magnet associated with the other external data storage drive within a detection range of the Reed sensor.

4. The external data storage drive of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to access the second non-volatile memory over a wired connection between the external data storage drive and the other external data storage drive.

5. An external data storage drive comprising:

a first physical enclosure;

a means for communicatively coupling to a host device separate from the external data storage drive;

a first non-volatile memory disposed within the first physical enclosure;

a user input interface associated with the first physical enclosure of the external data storage drive;

one or more sensors; and

a controller configured to;

receive an operation initiation command from the user input interface;

in response to the operation initiation command, determine a physical orientation of the external data storage drive relative to another external data storage drive comprising a second non-volatile memory disposed within a second physical enclosure of the other external data storage drive;

determine whether a type of data storage operation associated with the physical orientation is a copy operation or an extended storage operation; and

initiate the determined type of data storage operation involving the external data storage drive and the other external data storage drive.

6. The external data storage drive of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to execute each of a plurality of separate types of data storage operations between the external data storage drive and the other external data storage drive in response to determining separate respective physical device orientations of the external data storage drive relative to the other external data storage drive.

7. The external data storage drive of claim 5, wherein the determined physical orientation is a side-by-side orientation of the external data storage drive relative to the other external data storage drive.

8. The external data storage drive of claim 5, wherein the determined physical orientation is a stacked orientation of the external data storage drive relative to the other external data storage drive.

9. The external data storage drive of claim 5, further comprising one or more magnets associated with the first physical enclosure that are configured to be sensed by a Reed sensor of the other external data storage drive.

10. The external data storage drive of claim 5, wherein:

the external data storage drive is a network-attached data storage device (NAS); and

the other external data storage drive is a direct-attached data storage device (DAS).

11. The external data storage drive of claim 5, wherein the means for communicatively coupling to the host device comprises a host interface.

12. A method of managing data storage in a data storage device, the method comprising:

determining a first relative physical orientation of a first data storage device to a second data storage device using one or more sensors of the first data storage device, the first relative physical orientation being associated with an extended storage operation;

in response to the determined first relative physical orientation, initiating the extended storage operation involving the first data storage device and the second data storage device;

determining a second relative physical orientation of the first data storage device to the second data storage device using the one or more sensors, the second relative physical orientation being associated with a copy operation; and

in response to the determined second relative physical orientation, initiating the copy operation between the first data storage device and the second data storage device;

wherein the method is performed at least in part by a controller of the first data storage device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first relative physical orientation is one of a side-by-side orientation and a stacked orientation.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more sensors comprises a Reed sensor configured to detect a presence of a magnet associated with the other external data storage drive within a detection range of the Reed sensor.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising accessing a non-volatile memory of the second data storage device over a wired connection between the first data storage device and the second data storage device.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the first data storage device is a network-attached data storage device (NAS); and

the second data storage device is a direct-attached data storage device (DAS).

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the first data storage device comprises one or more magnets that are configured to be sensed by a Reed sensor of the second data storage device.